Raiders anxious to see what new-look roster can do

MEDFORD SOFTBALL PREVIEW

The rebuild of Medford’s softball program hit a speed bump with the cancellation of the 2020 season, but with practices for the 2021 season set to start on Monday, veteran head coach Virgil Berndt is hopeful the Raiders’ development can accelerate over the next two months.

Finishing under .500 in 2019 and 2018 and at .500 in 2017 at the varsity level was unfamiliar territory for Medford softball program. However, there was optimism heading into the unfortunate 2020 season that wasn’t.

Losing the year meant heartbreak for seniors Alex Nicks, Brynn Rau, Emily Schafer, Rachel Mudgett and Kiersten Crass, and it forced a team heavy on sophomores and freshmen to turn its attention to other playing options.

Fortunately, Medford played about 20 club games last summer and with some girls continuing to play over the fall and winter, momentum was present during the team’s contact days of recent weeks.

The Raiders are set to open the season with Great Northern Conference games at home with Northland Pines April 27 and at Tomahawk April 29.

“We’re excited,” Berndt said Wednesday. “To get back into a game again is going to be nice. It’s kind of weird. We haven’t seen our competition play, we haven’t seen our kids play for awhile other than some summer ball. We’re ready to get to some games. I just hope there isn’t a setback here or we run into issues where we can’t play.”

Another positive sign for Medford is that participation numbers are rebounding. The Raiders were in the low 20s in 2019. They start 2021 with 36 players in all grades, which should create three teams and opportunities for all to play.

Where everyone is going to play is going to be the great mystery.

“This is definitely going to be one of the toughest years I’ve had to set a varsity because there are so many good kids that have played,” Berndt said. “It’s going to be tough. What our varsity may look like in the first week could be totally different in the third week.”

The majority of the girls who will be competing for varsity time are those juniors and sophomores who missed out on an important developmental season last spring. They join just three seniors, Delani Clausnitzer, Allie Wesle and Rachael Schreiber.

Clausnitzer, who is working her way back into shape after off-season ankle issues, is a likely starter at third base or could potentially be used as a designated player to make sure her potent bat is in the lineup. In 2019, Clausnitzer hit .437 and led the Raiders with 31 hits. Wesle lettered as a sophomore and could see time at catcher, on the infield or in the outfield. Schreiber looks to earn an increased role in the outfield.

Another solid certainty heading into the season is pitching where Berndt and assistant Ron Fisk are looking for big things out of junior Laurissa Klapatauskas and sophomore Martha Miller.

As a freshman, Klapatauskas pitched in 15 games and earned a 3-3 record with a 3.63 earned run average. She collected 39 strikeouts in 54 innings, highlighted by a complete-game victory over Stevens Point Pacelli, a team that wound up at state in Division 4.

Miller has been a successful hurler in the youth and club ranks and is anxiously waiting to make her varsity debut.

“I would certainly think our pitching should be as strong as anybody in the conference,” Berndt siad. “I would say we have a one-two that could be as good as anybody. Obviously we have to see some games. With the amount of work those two have put in, they’re ready.”

From there, Berndt and Fisk will have plenty of girls to choose from, all with varying strengths, which could make making all of the pieces fit a challenging task, at least early in the season.

Juniors Rynn Ruesch and Katie Lybert were letter winners as freshmen. Ruesch hit .286 and drove in seven runs while primarily playing in the outfield. Lybert hit a homer, collected four hits and drove in three runs, also while playing in the outfield.

Katie Brehm, Emma Brost and Abbie Frey all saw JV and varsity time two years ago and Makala Ulrich is back in the fold after missing 2019 due to knee surgery.

Along with Miller, the sophomore class includes candidates like Eryka Seidl, Hope Faude, Morgan Huegli, Delaney Hraby, Allie Paulson, Chloe Werner and Madisyn Pilgrim, who have played a lot of softball, and a newcomer Theresa Broeske, who showed some ability during contact days.

“Our lineup could be different throughout the year because someone’s got the hot hand, the hot glove, the hot bat,” Berndt said. “With a crazy year like this, we could be very blessed too in that, if we get some people quarantined or whatever, we have people we can plug in. If COVID hits or we have injuries, we’re going to be able to plug people right in. I can see that already. I may have some girls play JV on Tuesday and varsity on Thursday until we get it figured out.”

While the defensive questions of who plays where will take some time to answer, Berndt thinks team speed could be a strength and he’s hopeful the Raiders will be one of the stronger offensive teams in the Great Northern Conference.

“I’m guessing we’re going to put the ball in play,” he said. “I know there are some girls that can bunt. That might be a role for some people. It may not be as a full-time starter, but if we need to get a bunt down, there might be some people that have that role.” The year off brings another level of uncertainty in that it’s hard to predict what the GNC race will look like. Mosinee has been the monster no one’s been able to beat for the last decade. The Indians will play under a new coach this season, Kelly Remondini, after long-time successful coach Todd Felch stepped down. Antigo went 10-2 and finished second in 2019, Tomahawk was in the midst of a good run heading into last year and Lakeland was an improving squad that beat Medford in a 2019 WIAA Division 2 regional semifinal.

The Raiders and T- Birds both were 5-7 in league play in 2019. Northland Pines (2-10) “Last year was one of those years you wait for,” Berndt said. “We would’ve had the senior leadership, that middle ground would’ve been pretty good and the incoming class was good. Going into this year, we lose quite a bit from last year, but these girls have a lot of experience too. It’s just going to be interesting to see how it all fits together and who’s going

Raider junior Emma Brost fields a ground ball during an early contact day.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS